Because there has never been a large-scale urban street fight involving hundreds of thousands of people in this world. No one can realize how high the casualty rate in street fighting will be?
Therefore, Zhou Wen proposed to the principal that the main force in the battle to defend Nanjing must be the most elite Central Army.
Because during this period, most of the grassroots officers of the Central Army were officer cadets who graduated from the Huangpu Military Academy (now the Central Army Officers School). They had extremely high patriotic enthusiasm and feelings of protecting their homeland and country. They were brave and enthusiastic, and devoted to the country.
They are very loyal to the principal and are not afraid of death.
The army composed of these passionate young people was not afraid of the powerful Japanese army. In the historical Battle of Songhu, the Huangpu Military Academy students among the elite main force of the Central Army often took the lead in charging forward without flinching. In the end, they almost
Sacrifice everything.
If they are given the important task of guarding Nanjing, they will never let the Chinese people down.
Zhou Wen suggested that in the Battle of Shanghai, if China invests up to 30 divisions, it should consider retreating.
The troops supported from all over the country can be pre-deployed on the two defense lines between Shanghai and Nanjing (which are still only drawings) to prepare for defense.
The guard force in Nanjing city should be composed of two or three German weapon divisions as the main force, supplemented by some other troops who are familiar with Nanjing city, such as the Military Police Corps, the Tax Police Corps and the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps, with a total strength of about 8
-100,000 people, with the goal of holding on for three months, launched street battles with the Japanese army, using every street and building in Nanjing to kill and injure the Japanese army in large numbers.
There was no need for other troops to fight head-on with the Japanese troops around Nanjing. They resisted and intercepted at all levels, and then quickly moved across the river, striving to deploy defenses on the other side of the Yangtze River to defend Nanjing's supply lines and the retreat route of the garrison.
If the purpose of the campaign can be achieved, it will not only inflict heavy damage on the Japanese army, but also gain more than 8 months of preparation time for the war of resistance in Anhui, Henan and other provinces in the rear.
You must know that in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War in history, due to the defeat of the Battle of Songhu and the failure of Nanjing in a short period of time, the subsequent organization and deployment of the entire Chinese army experienced varying degrees of chaos.
The Japanese army took advantage of the victory and pursued it. Nanjing fell on December 13, 1937. The Japanese army barely rested and launched an attack in the direction of Xuzhou in early January 1938, with the intention of opening up the line of communication with the Japanese army in North China.
From this, we can see how powerful the Japanese army was at that time. Not only did it far surpass the Chinese army in terms of equipment and military quality, but its ability to fight continuously was also jaw-dropping.
At this time, the Chinese army retreated to Wuhan. After experiencing continuous defeats and retreats, not only the elite troops were almost exhausted, but the remaining troops had no time to rest and replenish.
Fortunately, the Japanese army was the first to attack Xuzhou at that time, and most of the Chinese troops participating in the Xuzhou Battle were troops from other provinces who arrived later. Although the organization was hasty, at least they were still well-organized and retained a certain degree of combat effectiveness.
Although the Battle of Xuzhou ultimately ended with China's defeat, it also created brilliant achievements during this period such as the Taierzhuang victory.
If the Japanese army had not attacked Xuzhou at that time, but directly attacked Wuhan, given the chaos of the Chinese army at that time, it is difficult to say that Wuhan would have fallen in a short time. In that case, the situation of the Anti-Japanese War would have been very dangerous.
Because at that time, Wuhan had China's only remaining and most complete arsenal, the famous Hanyang Arsenal, and there were also a large number of supporting factories and steel plants.
If Wuhan falls before the equipment and workers in these factories can retreat in time, then the Chinese army will not be able to produce even basic rifles in the later period of the War of Resistance. How can it fight against Japan?
Therefore, Zhou Wen's plan is to enable Nanjing to hold on for more than 3 months, so that the Chinese troops in Xuzhou and Wuhan can get more sufficient preparation time.
In particular, the troops in Wuhan are basically troops that have retreated from Shanghai and Nanjing. After several months of continuous fighting, the losses in soldiers and equipment will inevitably be huge, and there must be a buffer time for rest and replenishment.
Moreover, who knows whether history will change because of Zhou Wen's plan. If the Japs attack Wuhan directly after capturing Nanjing, Wuhan will have at least more than three months to evacuate and prepare.
Zhou Wen almost foamed at the corners of his mouth before he finished explaining his entire concept of fighting on the Eastern Front.
Seeing the principal silently looking at the map, he picked up the white porcelain teapot on the coffee table and looked at the tea cup in the principal's hand. He didn't see any intact ones, and he didn't care about it. He just drank a few cups with the spout of the teapot.
Big mouth.
The principal, on the other hand, was lost in thought, but in his heart he was amazed at the boldness and daring of the boy in front of him.
Faced with this somewhat complicated but not difficult to understand plan, he knew that there was no need to rush to make a decision yet. He just considered and deduced its feasibility in his mind and put down the idea.
Of course, this kind of strategy, which already involves the direction of national strategy, cannot be decided through Zhou Wen's explanation. Zhou Wen also knows this truth.
Even if the principal approves the plan in his heart, it will still have to be carefully deduced by the senior advisers of the Military Commission and come up with a specific implementation plan, and the opinions of other senior officials will also be sought before the layout can be started.
The principal no longer struggled with this issue at this time, and just frowned and asked: "Even if your campaign ideas are finally realized, it will only slow down the pace of the Japanese army's attack, but this alone is not enough to allow us to finally
Do you have any other suggestions for defeating Japan?"
"Principal, these humble ideas are just to slow down the pace of the Japanese attack, buy time for our rear organization and preparation, and also buy time for us to resist at all levels in Xuzhou, Wuhan, and even Changsha."
"Moreover, as the Japanese forces continue to attack, their front lines are getting longer and longer. The large number of casualties and the pressure of logistical supplies will gradually weaken the momentum of the Japanese offensive. If we can completely stop the Japanese army in Wuhan and Anhui, of course
It’s best, but if that doesn’t work, just continue to extend the Japanese army’s front line, and we can basically stabilize our defense line in Hunan, thus entering a stalemate with the Japanese army.”
The principal nodded frequently after hearing this. Of course he knew that half of Hunan Province is mountainous, and the other half of the land is a landform characterized by crisscrossing water networks.
If the Japanese army really attacks along the east-west line and goes through several major battles along the way, even if it can win, its attack momentum will basically be exhausted when it reaches Hunan. However, our country can take advantage of Hunan's geographical advantages of mountains and water to
Japanese troops blocked it.
Moreover, the strategic concept of relying on Hunan was originally proposed by many people of insight as an important node in exchanging space for time.